Book Club

This month book was ‘A Long Petal of The Sea’ by Isabel Allende.

First published in 2019 in Spanish and in English in 2020, the story opens towards the end of the Spanish Civil War, with Franco‘s fascist forces on the verge of defeating the Republican militia .

After the defeat the key characters of the story, Victor and Roser, flee across the Pyrenees to seek refuge in France. Once there they are detained in concentration camps in brutal conditions, but due to Roser’s advanced pregnancy, she is helped to leave the camp and is given a home with a Quaker family who look after her and her baby.

The next key event is that the famous Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda, arranges for 2000 of the Spanish refugees to be transported from France to Chile. Victor‘s brother Guillem is actually the father of Roser’s baby, but was killed in the Civil War, so in order to secure a place on the refugee ship Victor and Roser hurriedly marry to present as a family.

They settle in Chile and their lives continue, but eventually the book brings us up-to-date with the ascendancy of General Pinochet in Chile. It then explores the ensuing impact on the country and the continuing struggle between oppression and liberty.

The book was well received by everyone and led to some really interesting discussions. All of us were surprised at how little we knew of the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath; also of the political upheaval in South America in the latter part of the 20th century. The book was felt to be easy to read and kept our interest, we were also fascinated by the real people who had inspired the story and by the authors links to some of the key political characters.

Scores for the book ranged from 7 to 9 with the average coming out at eight.

Next month‘s book is ‘O Brother’ by John Niven, and the next meeting is Tuesday, the 9th of July.